This is a potential topic for my website, and I’m thinking about it because ljash said something interesting under one of my posts (I’m not going to link to it because it’s in the spoiler post from last Friday):
Category: tv
Speaking of TV shows that died young…
This weekend I rented the first DVD of “Kindred: The Embraced“. I remember watching this show way back when and not caring for it much. I’m not sure what’s different now. Maybe my tastes are different. Maybe I see how this is not really a mobster show in vampire disguise like I thought last time, but a sociological study of what a vampire sub-culture might be like. Maybe it’s because I live in San Francisco now. Maybe it’s because I get to watch all the eps in a row and get more story before making up my mind. Maybe it’s because I have a better grasp of the vampire metaphysics of this particular universe this time around.
But I like this show. It’s pretty cool. And there are only eight episodes!!! (*sob*)
I noticed in the credits, though, that this was based on and produced by a guy who wrote for the “Vampire: the Masquerade” thingee. Was that ever in novelized form? I always thought it was just an RPG, and looking it up on amazon.com didn’t clear it up. Are they novels, or just rule books? ‘Cause I’d like a little more story, but I don’t want to spend my money on RPG rule books.
— Masquerade, who did NOT adopt her name because of this RPG.
Doing a novel synopsis…
I have no problem telling people I’m writing a novel. It makes me sound Interesting at parties. “You’re writing a novel?” But inevitably, people ask me, “What is it about”? They want a 30-second synopsis. Or is it 30 words? Anyway, that’s when I get tongue-tied. I suck at giving synopses, and usually just say lame stuff like, “I don’t know,” or “It’s complicated”, or… I change the subject.
It’s not like I’m embarassed about my novel or anything. It’s just it’s… it’s a character-driven novel with a bit of a complicated plot, and how do you summarize such a thing? Plot-driven novels usually have a concept, or a premise. Something that started the whole writing process in the first place, something the writer is shooting for that lets him/her know when it’s complete.
Morally ambiguous demons (Angel 5.16)
The quote-able Joss
He always has a way of saying it exactly like it is:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less traveled by and they CANCELLED MY FRIKKIN’ SHOW. I totally shoulda took the road that had all those people on it. Damn.” (joss, Feb 14 22:31 2004)
I feel like I should bow or have honor or something – Highlander S. 3 DVD review
I don’t know why it is I feel I need to do reviews of Highlander DVD sets and not, for example, Buffy or Angel. I love these shows equally. Maybe it’s just that I figure most of my friends are already familiar with Buffy/Angel and my feelings about it. But I love DSN just as much as these others, and I don’t have a lot of DSN fans on my friends list, but I don’t feel the need to review those, either. Hmm.
Maybe there’s just something special about Highlander. It has that hidden world of fantasy in the midst of the real world, it had a basic moral message of honor and decency, it had strong female characters (and great characters in general!), it had fun flashbacks.
Gratuitous fandom post – Alias
I must warn you. Talking about Sydney Bristow turns me into an eight-year old. I have been watching the first two seasons of Alias on DVDs I rented from netflix. OK, and can I say this show *kicks ass*? Or, more to the point, Sydney kicks ass. She kicks high! She could kick you butt. Kapow! giggle
But despite all the hot babe butt-kicking, I don’t think I would have quite descended into fandom if it weren’t for the family element. Some personal stuff on the theme of family connections
The prophecies about “The” Vampire with a Soul: more than a shanshu
Note: My goal is here is not to argue that either Angel or Spike is “The Vampire with a Soul” (VwaS), but simply to lay out everything that has been said about the VwaS in five seasons of the show. You draw your own conclusions.
Squinting at sunlight
I’m officially settled into my new place and life can go back to something resembling normal. Just in time for the rush of the holidays. I went to K-Mart yesterday to pick up a few odds and ends for my condo and ended up walking out empty-handed. Too many people strolling at zero miles an hour through the aisles, and let’s not even get to how many people were lined up at the check-out registers.
On the other hand, a successful change of address with Netflix brought me more Alias, 24, and Taken goodness. I got Firefly in the queue now, too, waiting for later this month, and Farscape. And somehow, Highlander season 3 came out on DVD a while back without me noticing. Amazon is already selling used copies. I have it on my wish-list pending finding out how much money I’ll have in the coming months. My old iMac computer is acting up, and I’m wondering if it might not be a good idea to get a new computer instead of getting the old one fixed.
Speaking of “Taken”, I just finished up that mini-series yesterday and really liked it. Taken spoilers
Author Nancy E. Shaffer 